President Lula this week made a successful two-day visit to London with a delegation including chief of staff Dilma Rousseff, finance minister Guido Mantega, social communication minister Franklin Martins, central bank governor Henrique Meirelles and deputy foreign minister Antonio Patriota.

On 4 November he went to the City of London to inaugurate the first overseas office of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), aimed at attracting increased foreign investment to Brazil and supporting Brazilian companies abroad.

He then met British prime minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street, where discussions included the global financial situation and issues related to the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen in December. Also at Downing Street, Mr Patriota and UK Olympics minister Tessa Jowell signed an Olympics cooperation document (Rio de Janeiro, recently chosen to host the 2016 Olympics, is keen to learn from London’s experiences as host city in 2012).

On 5 November President Lula and his delegation participated in the half-day Financial Times Investing in Brazil Summit, after which the President had an audience with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. In the evening he received the Chatham House Prize 2009 in a ceremony at the Banqueting House, Whitehall. The prize is awarded annually to the statesperson deemed to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

The President’s engagements in London also included a meeting with Conservative Party leader David Cameron.

Source: Embassy of Brazil in London